12.24.22 - Matthew 1:21

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His People from their sins.  Before we end our time together this Christmas Eve, I want to open up this passage to you briefly and declare something of the glory of Christ.  •This is the joy of Christmas: A Baby was born, His name is Jesus, He came to save His People from their sins, and He truly did it.  1.) In our text, the angel came to Joseph and told him that, “She (Mary) will bear a son.” •The virgin will give birth.  •We’ve been singing about this all evening: “Late in time, behold Him come! Offspring of a virgin’s womb.” •The Child was placed in the virgin’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit.  •This Child is literally a miracle child.  And here we see the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 coming to pass.  •In that verse, we read of God’s promise to one day send a Man, the Seed of the woman, to be born of a woman, and that He would come to crush the head of the Serpent (the Devil).  •God promised at the beginning, right after the Fall of Man into sin, that He would send a man, a new Adam, a better Adam, who would fix everything that our first father destroyed with His sin.  •God had promised that one day, a man would be born of woman, and He would conquer sin and Satan and right all wrongs.  And now it is happening.  •The Seed of the woman is coming into the world.  •Truly, He was BORN OF WOMAN. There was no man involved. He was born of a virgin; placed in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit.  And this means that this Child is TRULY HUMAN.  •Why is that important to us? •Because only a man can represent fallen, sinful men.  •God original covenanted with man, with Adam, in the Garden, and man broke covenant with God, and man became a rebel and sinner against God.  •And now we need a MAN to keep covenant with God on our behalf.  •Only a man can represent sinful men. Only a true human can represent human beings.  •Only a man can make atonement for the sins of men.  •And praise God, the Child born was truly human, just like us, but without sin, for He was not born of natural human processes. He was born of a virgin and, therefore, uncorrupted by sin. Oh, but don’t forget this: This Child is also truly God.  •Though our text does not say it, the rest of Scripture is abundantly clear: This Child is God. •This Child is the Son of God. True God of true God. Eternally begotten of the Father. Eternally God. The Second Person of the Holy Trinity.  •Here is the greatest miracle of all time: God, even God the Son, took on human flesh and came to earth.  •God lowered Himself by taking a sinless human nature and uniting it to the divine nature.  •In this Child, God Himself has come to us.  •God Himself has humbled Himself, lowered Himself, and become a man in order to do good to fallen men.  And this is most necessary for us.  •For while only a man can represent man and right what man has done, only God has the power to save men.  •Only God Himself can save sinners.  •And so we need a God-Man. And this Child is THE      God-Man.  •The Son of God has come into the world, truly human, born of a virgin, in order to bring about all that God has promised to fallen sinners.  2.) But the angel does not only announce that a Child is to be born of the virgin.  •He goes on to instruct Joseph, “…you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” •A modern hymn says, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there is something about that Name.” •His Name is revealed by the angel. God Himself has taken the right to name the Child, for this Child is God’s only begotten Son. And His Name is glorious.  “Jesus” isn’t just a name. It means something.  •It means “God saves.” Or, more broadly, it can mean “Savior.” •And this is fitting, isn’t it?  •For God will save His People though Jesus, as the angel says. Jesus is the Savior.  •And, even more, “God saves” is a fitting name, for JESUS IS GOD.  •So, yes, call Him “Jesus.” Call Him “GOD SAVES.”  •Nothing is more fitting.  •His name is music in our ears. When we say His holy Name, we are declaring that He is the Savior. We are declaring that He is the God who saves.  But notice that this verse tells us something about ourselves.  •It does so IMPLICITLY. For it says, “He will save His People…” •He will save His People. Apparently, we need saving.  •But why? From what do we need saved?  •The text says, “He will save His People from THEIR SINS.” •But what is it about sin that we need saved from?  1. First, we need saved from SIN’S PENALTY.  •This is the great problem of man.  •We are sinners. We have sinned against God. We have rebelled against His Law. We have rebelled against Him.  •We have sought to do our own will instead of His.  •We have lived our lives as if He did not matter. And this is evidenced in our disobedience and ingratitude toward Him. It’s evidenced in our lack of love for Him.  •We have said what we ought not, done what we ought not, and thought what we ought not.  •We have not honored or loved Him as we should.  •We have sinned against Him.  As John Piper once said,  “What is sin? It is the glory of God not honored.  The holiness of God not reverenced.  The greatness of God not admired.  The power of God not praised.  The truth of God not sought.  The wisdom of God not esteemed.  The beauty of God not treasured.  The goodness of God not savored.  The faithfulness of God not trusted.  The commandments of God not obeyed.  The justice of God not respected.  The wrath of God not feared.  The grace of God not cherished.  The presence of God not prized.  The person of God not loved.  That is sin.” And every single one of us are guilty of sin.  •And GOD HATES SIN. It is an offense to and against Him.  •And He will not look the other way. He is holy. He is a righteous judge. He cannot look the other way.  •For God to let sin go unpunished would be for Him to deny Himself His justice and compromise His holy nature.  •And that, He cannot and will not do.  And that makes sin our great problem.  •When sinful men stand before a holy God, nothing good happens to man. Only death and eternal damnation in Hell await the sinner.  •We stand clothed in guilt before a righteous God who promises to damn the wicked.  •And we are the wicked. We are unholy. We are sinners.  •We need a Savior.  •And praise God, “He will save His People from their sins.” 2. Second, we need saved from SIN’S POWER.  •We need saved from the dominion of sin.  •Men are slaves to sin unless they are set free by Christ.  •Apart from His grace, we can do nothing but sin.  •We do not and cannot please God.  •We have no desire to obey Him.  •We are in slavery from sin the moment we are conceived.  But Christ came into the world to set us free from the power of sin so that we might live unto God.  •So that we might please God.  •So that we might shed our sin and be holy as God created us to be.  •Christ came so that we might be changed into what we should’ve been all along: True human beings who love and worship our Maker.  •We are bound in sin and cannot be what God created us to be. We are slaves to the power of sin.  •But praise be to God, “He will save His People from their sins.” 3. Third, we need saved from SIN’S PRESENCE.  •This world is full of sin.  •We are full of sin. Corrupt to the core.  •But Christ came into the world in order to save us from the very presence of sin.  •He came to make atonement for us so that we would be made clean and fit and acceptable to God, so that we could dwell with God forever.  •He came, so that, after we die, we would be able to behold God face-to-face in Heaven, away from the very presence of sin.  •Away from every temptation to sin. Away from the very ability or inclination or desire to sin.  And to top it all off, God promises that one day our Lord Jesus will recreate the world. He will restore it.  •And He will restore it to it’s original state of innocence, where sin is no more. And sin will never enter again.  •Our world and our persons are full of sin and wickedness and suffering and pain and horror.  •But praise God, “He will save His People from their sins.” The Lord Jesus Christ was born to save His People from their sins.  •From the penalty, power, and, ultimately, the very presence of sin.  •“…you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His People form their sins.” •The Name of Jesus itself is the very Gospel: God saves. Jesus is the Savior of sinners. Jesus is the Savior of His People.  But how will He save His People? How will He do it?  •He will do so by living, dying, and being raised for them.  •He will perfectly obey God as man’s representative.  •He will keep covenant with God and fulfill all righteousness of behalf of sinful man, doing what we should’ve done all along, so that His perfect obedience can be credited to our account.  And He will offer Himself on a Cross as our substitute.  •He will offer His life for ours, His suffering for our sin.  •He will take the sins of all His People upon Himself and suffer the wrath of Almighty God on their behalf.  •And, by doing so, He will secure the forgiveness of their sins, for justice that was due to Him will be laid upon Him.  •And He will die the death that they deserve, shedding His blood in their place.  And He will rise from the grave three days later.  •He will rise as the Victor over sin, Satan, and death.  •Having made a full atonement, He will be raised from the dead to ever live and make intercession for His People.  •And He will rise in order to secure the bodily resurrection of those same people at the end of the age, so that their entire persons, body and soul, will be made new in Him.  And catch this: HE DID IT! •He was successful. This isn’t just a story. This is what He did! •We read of His life, death, and resurrection throughout the Scriptures.  •HE DID IT! He worked and won salvation for His People! Our text does NOT say that He will try to save His People.  •No. That’s blasphemy.  •The text says, “HE WILL save His People…” •And He did exactly that.  •He is no failure. He came for His People. And He saved them.  •Not one for whom He lived, died, and was raised will ever be lost! •All for whom He came will be saved! •He actually did it! Praise God, Jesus saves His People! 3.) And now we come to a question:  •Are you one of His People? •This is THE great question.  •Jesus came only to save His People from their sins. He did not come to save those who are not His People.  •The Father gave a People to the Son to save.  •And the Son came to earth, took on flesh, and effectively and actually accomplished the work that was given to Him. He truly worked salvation for that People.  •His People are saved and will be saved. That’s a settled fact that is beyond dispute.  •Jesus did it. That’s what we’re celebrating at Christmas.  •But are you one of His People? If you trust in Him, then you are one of His People.  •If you trust in Him, then you can know that He came for you.  •If you trust in Him, then you can know that you were chosen by God in eternity past for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  •If you trust in Him, then you can know that you were given to Him by the Father to be saved.  •If you trust in Him, then you are one of His People that He came to save and truly saved! His People trust in Him.  •His People forsake all attempts to make themselves right with God. They forsake all their good works as grounds for their salvation.  •They forsake themselves completely and trust only in Jesus Christ and His work done on their behalf to save them.  •They turn from their sin, acknowledge they deserve damnation, but trust that Jesus Christ has saved them from their sins.  •His People trust in Him. That’s how you know who they are. That’s how you know if you are one of them.  •That’s the great mark of the one for whom He came to save: Faith in the Savior. So, I tell you today, as I come to a close:  •TRUST IN HIM! •He has done it! He has saved His People! •Look to Him in faith.  •There is hope only in Jesus Christ.  •And ONLY those who trust in Him are His People.  He is our only hope.  •He is the only Savior.  •So, trust in this Jesus, who was born of virgin, the        God-Man, the Son of God, who came into the world to save His People from their sins.  May God grant each one of us to trust in the Savior.  •Amen.